This week Labragirl Resident Blogger Cynthia Vicario takes a passionate look at conflicting images of Latino adolescents. In her work as an educator and cultural historian Cynthia deals with students who are strong, bright, and hard-working. Yet, she consistently sees images that portray Latino youth as uneducated and poor. In this thoughtful piece, Cynthia wonders what role, if any, media images of Latinos play in shaping the lives of Latino youths and society’s interaction with these children. She also wonders why other images – the ones she sees in her daily life – are not more prominent in the media. Cynthia’s work combines her passion for education and her cultural look at the world.

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Cynthia Vicario

Recently, while driving with my brother to Downtown Los Angeles for dinner, I stopped at a corner gas station to fill up my gas tank for the second time that week, when I was approached by a soft spoken Latino about fourteen years-old selling chocolates in order to win a trip to Washington, D.C. My brother, a local Angelino, advised me not to purchase the chocolates because he believed this teen was just another kid peddling for an adult-based profit venture that operates by exploiting child labor. Although that may very well have been the case, I ignored my brother. My first reaction was to observe how cold it was that evening, yet this young boy wore only a t-shirt and jeans. The area also did not appear safe for a young boy to be alone. As an educator working with teens for many years, I’ve come to understand that many adolescent issues stem from social-economic factors, therefore I instinctively knew there was more to this situation than just a youth peddling chocolates. I immediately began discussing the possible educational opportunities with this young man.

It was the image of fatigue, hopelessness, and poverty reflected on this young boy that lingered with me months later.

The image of this young man stays with me during my daily work commute, and although I work with middle school students on a daily basis, this particular Latino youth seems to haunt me. How many of us can remember a Latino youth that has approached us as we quickly enter or exit our local markets? Although we are quick to dismiss these kids, how many of these children that we avoid are simply trying to help their families make ends meet?

This internal dialogue compelled me to open up this conversation and ask the following questions:

Is there a pre-conceived conception of Latino youth that has been shaped by media images?

On the Saturday evening I encountered this particular teen, I was on the corner of State Street and Marengo in East Los Angeles. I could feel the hustle and bustle of the city bursting at the seams and preparing for the shift that occurs in a metropolis such as Los Angeles. It is that time and space which transcends the city from twilight to the pulse of what can lie ahead in the darkest corners of a city. Los Angeles is a city saturated with images of progression, entertainment, and new hipster generated urban spaces. Advertising methods include strategic Latino/a images in order to gain the support of the Latin audience, yet to the critical eye, it’s a sharp contrast to headline news and media’s constant bombarding of negative images of Latinos.

Under-education and dropout rates have emerged as a cultural phenomenon indicative of a schism between the needs of Latinos and the ways in which society views and treats them. One only has to view current media’s stereotypes of Latino youth as low performing under achieving students, who come from a culture of families where higher educational expectations are nonexistent. [Source: (Pathways to Prevention: The Latino Male Dropout Crisis. ASU Center for Community Development and Civil Rights, 2007)]

Why is it that in an era of digital technologies and possibilities that our popular culture continues to turn a blind eye to the empowering images of transformative changes that are currently taking place among the Latino youth? There are a significant number of images of the Latino youth that are currently cultivating change within East L.A cities. Images such as the one taken at the Hispanic Youth Institute 2012, a national pre-college program at Loyola Marymount University.

This institute is a collaboration of students, college leaders, and mentors that teaches students how to prepare themselves for higher education.

Additionally, many Los Angeles communities are creating rich learning environments that both recognize and involve youth as the future of their communities. As an educator and cultural historian, it is exciting to observe student activism aligned with social justice issues on a local level. It is the launching of a movement to achieve real and lasting change among our youth in the form of activism with a new lens on the Los Angeles experience as a young Latino/a. Although living in poverty, Latino youth are surviving the odds by focusing on new ideas and new approaches in order to address the complex economic, social, and broader cultural issues in Los Angeles. This movement is taking place in the form of community based collaboration, some examples include: California State University, Long Beach Community Scholars program in collaboration with their Chicano & Latino Studies Program and California Community Foundations.

The intent of this movement is to create real and lasting change in student achievement that in turn leads access to higher education opportunities. This theory of change is now set in motion – students are acting and participating.

As an educator, I am committed to continue to seek ways to ways to find solutions and seek justice for youth of color, poverty, and below poverty. I ask these questions? What are we willing to do? How can we focus on new ideas, new images, and new approaches to address these complex issues of youth within our inner cities?

Images can create a powerful impression and shape history over time. In the final scene of Rome, Open City (Italian: Roma, città aperta) a 1945 Italian war drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini, The last scene shows a group of boys dejectedly walking away after witnessing the execution of the priest, Don Pietro (Aldo Fabrizi). The scene is a symbolic shot against a panoramic view of the city of Rome after war torn destruction caused by German Occupation.

It is a symbolic shot which reminds me of the haunting image of the Latino youth against the LA skyline. What intrigues me is how the youth of today demonstrate a symbol of hope that the youth of the next generation have captured.

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15 thoughts on “Cultivating Change: Latino Youth of the Next Generation”

I see these children not on the door to my apartment, sometimes around eight or nine o’ clock. I agree and in a way their money they make is put into the family income. It happens at least once a month with false promises or going to Washington D.C. Truth is these teans are hustiling to succeed to help their families is it correct that these teens work long hours. But they thrive on this false problems working long hours that bothers me but there isn’t anything I can do about it. The image that touched me was the image of stand

Of Stand and deliver i too was a latino you that like these kids had no real ambition of going to college or going to Cal State Fullerton. But what helped me graduate is talk to teachers, peers at school that gave me the inititave to succeed and get my degree which is something i’m very proud of. This blog article and the images brought me back. Cynthia did a great job of touching things that people especially child labor. I wonder how much these teens make for ther work. Really great article and is there for one to see and remembet how latinos are precived in Southern California. Not all latinos are poor some have it good others do not.

This article brings great awareness to the society we all live in. I love the last image and how you relate it to Latino youth looking over LA Keep inspiring others. I am so proud of the hard work and passion you put into this article!

I too have encountered youth on the street and my door that have the look of fatigue, hopelessness.Loved how you brought to light youth/student activism among high school students it is something the media fails to show.

Very well written and inspiring. You really opened my eyes to the reality of how our youth is depicted in the media today. If we desire change it must start individually by raising awareness to those that are less fortunate than we are. Not forgetting our roots and leading by example. I eagerly look forward to your next piece!

The problem runs deep. Many Latino youth have no ambition to further their education, because the feel it is a lost cause. Many arrived in the U.S. at a young age as undocumented. They can enter the public school system, but college or university is another story. In most states, financial aid is not within their reach.

While there are many Latino youth who were born in the U.S. and many more with families going back hundreds of years in the U.S., the problem has also become one of culture. Gang affiliation was not a Latin American phenomena, it was not imported to the U.S.. It was cultivated in the U.S., as a way to preserve and protect culture; however, it ended up something very different. Unless we address the deep social issues affecting these youths, things will remain the same. These youths have been misled by the generations before them into believing that this way of life is part of their deeper Latino heritage. Whether documented or not, we have to give these youth hope for a better future and break the vicious cycles of violence, so often portrayed by the media.

Unfortunately, the media would rather focus on the negatives, instead of the positives. I grew up in an area just outside L.A. known for its gang activity. It is not unusual to find great-grandparents and grandparents still involved. These kids need to see positive images and role models, because often enough, they do not have them in their own families.

Well, Cynthia, I am so totally impressed, first of all, with your writing. Your piece really is quite well written. But,more importantly, it is the message. I have always felt for the Latino youth. I think, that overall, Latinos are under appreciated. There needs to be a change, and I can see you to be one of the changers. You have the passion and you also have charisma. Charisma is a gift that so few of us possess. I truly believe that you will do great things to help Latino youth become all that they can become. I just hope that I can be a small piece of the puzzle in initiating that change. I am willing to help you in any way I can. I know that you will find the perfect path because of your faith and tenacity. We are so lucky to know someone like you.

I think the analysis needs to be expanded to capture not just Latino youth but in general the exploding youth poverty. The image of youth poverty connected to the very real epidemic of youth violence. This image is inflated by law enforcement agencies and the media into something quite phatasmagoric. This youth scare has become an imaginary class relationship, a terrain of pseudo-knowledge and fantasy projection. But as long as the actual poverty and violence was more or less confined to the ghetto, the image of the youth is a voyeuristic titillation to white suburbanites devouring lurid imagery in their newspapers or on television. Thus, for these reasons the image of poor and uneducated Latino is more prevalent.

Thanks! I’ve barely had the chance to read the article. I had to no idea that you have been teaching/mentoring teens and finding new ways to improve their higher education goals…

After reading the article, especially regarding the teen at the gas station, I kept thinking of that controversial novel i read when i was a teen titled “Famous All Over Town” by Danny Santiago (Daniel Lewis James). A story of an ‘East Los’ Chicano youth surrounded by gang violence, gentrification, racism, machismo, immigration, and cultural identity crisis.

GREAT article! i love how it brings out awareness of Latinos, and how they are not appreciated enough as they should be and how they do not get enough recognition for the things they do. You showed great enthusiasm and a compelling argument in this article and I know with your big heart and mind, the stereotype image of Latino poverty will slowly disappear and society will not look at Latinos any differently because there are so many Latinos who succeed in this society.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your perspective, as I have thought about this a great deal throughout my life, which is why I always strived, in my small way, to hopefully change the preconceived ideas I remember some of my teachers having toward Latino youth. I can remember having my first Latino teacher in 8th grade, and thinking, “Wow, how cool, a teacher that looks like me!” I would not have another Latino teacher until college and believed this was a shame. We are constantly inundated with negative and stereotypical images of not only Latino youth but Latinos in general, and therefore, must think of and act on new ways in which to change that, thank you for giving me a new way in how to do this for my students.

You take a very interesting approach in your analysis of Latino youth in relation to media and technology. I think that it’s true that there is still a marginalized group, but it’s good to see that new generations are standing up for their rights.

Cynthia, you’re asking the all the right questions, and picking the perfect images to make some powerful points about the influences that we don’t always realize are shaping us. But it’s your voice that rings truest–thank you for reaching into your soul for words that paint their own pictures and clearly spell out a position…with passion! I love your work. You go, LatinaPaLabraGirl! Looking forward to more good stuff.